Various embodiments disclosed herein relate to merging video content from multiple video sources in order to create merged video content for display.
Integrating valuable segments of data from multiple video sources and merging those valuable segments into a single video has benefits in a wide variety of applications including but not limited to medical imaging, land based vehicle systems, aircraft systems, systems using head-up display (HUD) and wearable displays, such as, helmet mounted displays (HMD). In aircraft applications, HUD and HMD systems are advantageous in that they allow the flight crew to maintain eye contact with the outside environment while simultaneously viewing information from aircraft systems and sensors in a graphical and alphanumeric format overlaying the outside world view. Head-up display systems are known to provide conformal information such that displayed features overlay the environmental view or display information from a camera or other imaging sensor (such as a visible light imaging sensor, infrared imaging sensor, millimeter wave radar imager, etc.) mounted on the aircraft.
In modern avionics systems, display content from video sources can be collected from Synthetic Vision Systems (“SVS”) and Enhanced Vision Systems (“EVS”) for displaying terrain and other environmental information to HUD, HMD and HDD systems. The SVS and EVS systems are advantageous because they each present unique perspectives of terrain and environmental information of the scene in front of the aircraft to the pilot. In current avionics systems, pilots must switch between either displaying SVS video content or EVS video content depending on a desired perspective.
Synthetic vision systems (SVS) can include any type of computer generated imagery that is displayed to a user. With respect to avionics, SVS is defined by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as a computer generated image of the external scene topography that is derived from aircraft attitude, high-precision navigation solution, and database of terrain, obstacles, runways and other relevant features. Synthetic Vision relies on information contained in an on-board aircraft database. Therefore, only those terrain, obstacle, and runway features which are contained in the current version of an SVS database will be displayed in an SVS video. Because SVS video can display surrounding terrain to a user regardless of weather conditions, SVS is useful in the perception of the aircraft's approach progress and awareness of terrain constraints.
Enhanced vision systems use imaging sensors to capture video, for example, to capture real world topography or other images captured by sensors. In many cases, the video is enhanced by infrared sensing. Enhanced vision video provides actual real time images of the surrounding terrain and obstacles. For example, in avionics, enhanced vision video is advantageous in that it allows a pilot to view objects such as a person, vehicle or aircraft crossing a runway during a landing procedure. However, in many instances, the usability of the EVS image is directly dependent on external environmental conditions. For example, in low visibility conditions such as fog or rain, the EVS data is obscured and the pilot must switch to the SVS to receive terrain information. The embodiments disclosed herein provide for the simultaneous display of video content information from an SVS and video content from an EVS.